We are about to enter a new year and as we reflect on the past year and look forward to the coming one what things stand out? Was it a year of personal growth and change, or was it the same old thing, and will the new year bring any change into our lives? For most of us the year went by uneventfully and without much difference from this year and the last.
I have begun to look at the years past and begun to change my way of thinking. Maybe it is just that I am getting older, but I am beginning to want my life to count for something. And as a result have begun to think about where I want my life to end up. I have discovered that without a plan life will just sit and stale. To quote a friend, without banks a river is just a swamp.
And so I have begun to think through my “banks” in life and change my way of life. And not to plan a destination, because life is about the journey, not the destination, but to begin to put a few road markers in my path to guide my journey. For without direction, we will simply wander aimlessly, as I have done for most of my life. I have chosen to make life matter, and make my days mean something. Instead of looking for eternal youth, like some will, I have chosen to follow Abraham Lincoln’s advice “In the end it is not the years in your life that matters, it is the life in your years”
So instead of New Years Resolutions, which many people make, but extremely few actually realize, I have begun to set some goals for things I would like to accomplish this year. And after some prayer and considerable thought I have begun to walk a new path, giving life focus and direction. It is something we can all do, and something I would recommend.